‘I can only do what is here. But you / Have an entire congregation of choice’
I can only do what is here. But you
Have an entire congregation of choice,
If you are who they say. The child
Believes you cannot be, just
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‘I had always thought that in Blue Joni had taught me about love, about being in love and losing it.’
Amy Key on Joni Mitchell’s seminal album, released fifty years ago in 1971.
‘My work life – like, maybe, yours – is built around another, non-paying vocation.’
Hilary Plum on listening to the Swet Shop Boys while (not) working.
‘The highs and lows of fame, have been far better and far worse than both mother and daughter could have hoped for.’
Fiction by Alexia Arthurs, inspired by Rihanna.
‘Only M.I.A. could juxtapose the tropes of bad diaspora poetry against the horrors of interrogation techniques and get away with it. For a while, at least. ’
Momtaza Mehri on M.I.A.
First published in Granta 76: Music, an essay by Greil Marcus on Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, which inspired the Grateful Dead, Allen Ginsberg and Bob Dylan.
An elegy by Nick Laird for his father, Alastair Laird, who died this year of Covid-19.
‘When you wake up, / you will remember nothing of this.’
‘Curses’, ‘Familiar Ground’ and ‘Lions’ by Rae Armantrout.
A discussion about exhaustion, refusal and the beginner’s mindset.
‘This is a book I always return to for its melancholy tone, warm humour and psychological insight.’
